Journal
ENDOCRINE-RELATED CANCER
Volume 18, Issue 6, Pages R233-R251Publisher
BIOSCIENTIFICA LTD
DOI: 10.1530/ERC-10-0334
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Somatostatin (SS) and dopamine (DA) receptors have been highlighted as two critical regulators in the negative control of hormonal secretion in a wide group of human endocrine tumors. Both families of receptors belong to the superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors and share a number of structural and functional characteristics. Because of the generally reported high expression of somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) in neuroendocrine tumors (NET), somatostatin analogs (SSA) have a pronounced role in the medical therapy for this class of tumors, especially pituitary adenomas and well-differentiated gastroenteropancreatic NET (GEP NET). Moreover, NET express not only SSTR but also frequently dopamine receptors (DRs), and DA agonists targeting the D-2 receptor (D-2) have been demonstrated to be effective in controlling hormone secretion and cell proliferation in in vivo and in vitro studies. The treatment with SSAs combined with DA agonists has already been demonstrated efficacious in a subgroup of patients with GH-secreting pituitary adenomas and few reported cases of carcinoids. The recent availability of new selective and universal SSA and DA agonists, as well as the chimeric SS/DA compounds, may shed new light on the potential role of SSTR and D-2 as combined targets for biotherapy in NET. This review provides an overview of the latest studies evaluating the expression of SSTR and DR in NET, focusing on their co-expression and the possible clinical implications of such co-expression. Moreover, the most recent insights in SSTR and D-2 pathophysiology and the future perspectives for treatment with SSA, DA agonists, and SS/DA chimeric compounds are discussed. Endocrine-Related Cancer (2011) 18 R233-R251
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available